My Favorite George Harrison songs

Everyone who knows me knows that John is my favorite Beatle, but since I’ve been blogging, I’ve met a lot of people who have been won over by George. I’ve always liked George, but I’ve probably delved more into his catalog than I did before because of people’s enthusiasm about him. I know many bloggers now who consider him their favorite out of The Beatles, including Lisa from tao-talk.com, who ironically, inspired this post from her John Lennon post on Sunday. Enthusiasm rubs off, so I thought I would list my top ten favorite George songs. For some of Lisa’s posts about George, check here, here, here, here, and here. George’s popularity has grown a great deal in the past few years. 

I can only imagine how he felt being in a band that contained two of the top songwriters of the 20th Century. Unlike John and Paul, George didn’t start writing songs until 1963-1964. John and Paul had been writing songs since 1956. He was influenced by both of them, and I think he influenced them later on. Songs like Something, you can hear McCartney’s influence. With Taxman I can hear some of John in that one. 

You may notice something about this list. It leaves off his two biggest hits. My Sweet Lord and I’ve Got My Mind Set On You. Maybe I’ve heard them too many times, I don’t know, but the other ones hit me more. I’m also going to leave off Beatles (and Wilburys) songs that George wrote. If I made a list of John’s songs (which I will now), I won’t include his Beatles songs because I think they belong to all four, not just John. 

I switched my number one and two songs a little while back. They are close to me, but the number one song has won me over again and again. 

  1. All Things Must Pass

This is not only my favorite George Harrison song, but I also think it’s one of the best solo Beatles songs, period. 

This 1970 George Harrison song is on the album All Things Must Pass. He brought it up during the Let It Be sessions; they went over it, and it sounded fantastic for a rehearsal…you could hear it taking shape. George was mindful of the TV show concert of some kind on Let It Be (it wasn’t decided yet). He wanted to play acoustic and was afraid the acoustic would get lost live.  All the songs they did on Let It Be live on the rooftop…were rockers. They went through the song over 30 times. They picked it back up before the concert, but George dropped it. George wanted to do more of a rocker. 

To me, it’s the greatest non-officially recorded Beatles song. When all the Beatles’ voices came together in the chorus while rehearsing this one…a shiver went through me. None of them could reproduce those vocals apart. 

2. Isn’t It A Pity

I think this one gets forgotten, and it shouldn’t be that way. It was the B side to My Sweet Lord and I think it’s the superior side. George said he wrote it in 1966, but it didn’t see the light of day until 1970. 

It resembles Hey Jude in its structure. 

3.  What Is Life

What an uplifting song this is. It’s a slice of guitar-pop ecstasy. Power pop? Soul-pop? Sunshine fuzz-rock? However you tag it, it belongs high on anyone’s list of 1970s songs. 

4. Blow Away

I bought this album, which was in a cut-out bin at a record store and I was surprised how good this album was. This is a song that doesn’t come up as much when you hear George’s music. Much like Isn’t It A Pity…it gets forgotten. It’s nothing earth-shattering or complicated about this song… It’s just a truly great pop single. 

5. Any Road

This song was released posthumously, and it remains one of my favorite George songs. It pretty much sums up his philosophy, and I love it. It seemed like a final message from George to everyone. 

I heard this song before George passed away…a live version of it by him on a VH1 special that he was on. The interviewer kept pushing him to do a song…I’m glad he did now. When I heard it, I smiled because it was so George. With George’s songs, you could expect a good melody, slide guitar, and his own nugget of knowledge that he left behind.

This song was on George’s last album, Brainwashed, in 2003. George wrote the song in 1988 while working on a video for “Cloud Nine.” 

I would follow with these songs. 

6: Crackerbox Palace –I first saw the video of this song on television in the seventies. I might have seen it on the SNL broadcast…probably a repeat. A good catchy song by George off of his Thirty-Three & 1/3 album. 

7: Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) –  Another positive song from George. George Harrison said this about the song: “Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point. If that happens and you are lucky, it can usually be turned into a song. This song is a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it.”

8. When We Was Fab – It was nice to hear him having fun with his legend instead of the bitterness that all of them had for a short time. 

9. Devil’s Radio – From what I read about George, as a kid, he didn’t like the neighbors knowing his business and hated gossip…this song says that plain and clear about the press as well. 

10. The Art of Dying – Harrison wrote these lyrics while he was still a Beatle. He found it hard to get many of them on Beatles albums because there was only so much room. The good side is that when The Beatles broke up, he had a backlog full of songs.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

74 thoughts on “My Favorite George Harrison songs”

  2. Great list! Count me in as another who ranks George as my favorite. So many good songs to choose from, but I think my #1 is ‘What is Life’, #2 ‘Blow Away’ (glad you included it) #3 ‘Give me Love’. Toss up for next few but ‘All things must pass’, ‘All those years ago’ and ‘Crackerbox Palace’ would be up there.Then, if you included Beatles, ….too hard to rank ’em all

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    1. Yea I thought I would leave the Wilburys and Beatles out. George Harrison once said…if I would have done All Things Must Pass or if John would have done Imagine in the Beatles…it would just be a Beatles song…not really ours…so I took that to heart.
      So…you don’t have My Sweet Lord in your list either…I love the song…but I think he has better…most notably the B side to it.

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      1. had to double-check what the b-side was, but yes, ‘Isn’t it a Pity’ is brilliant too. ‘My Sweet Lord’ is excellent, might squeak into my top 10 but there are so many good ones to choose from (and then I could get sly and even include ‘Something’ and ‘While My Guitar GEntly Weeps’ since he did them live – I have live versions of both on one of his Best of compilations… guess he couldn’t get the other Fabs to let him use the BEatles versions)

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      2. Oh they probably wouldn’t mind that but I think it was because of his publishing rights…he changed when he went solo and he wouldn’t get as much with those version than the live versions.
        George does have the last number 1 single by the ex Beatles…with I Got My Mind Set On You.
        Yea I love My Sweet Lord…I really do but these just stick with me more. Any Road should be known more…it’s a great song…along with Isn’t It a Pity.

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  3. I have to agree with Dave – great list! I knew all your picks by title except the final two, which I had to pull up to remember. Leaving out Beatles and Wilburys songs also was an interesting choice. I guess had you included them, it would have been tricky to keep it to 10.

    One of my favorite George Harrison songs, which didn’t qualify for your list, is “If I Needed Someone.” That said, I seem to recall reading George didn’t think it was anything special. It may be simple, but I just love it!

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    1. Yea it would have been trickier but I think of them mostly as Beatles songs… George said the same thing…if Imagine would have been with the Beatles…it would have been just a Beatles song then.
      Oh I love that song as well… and it helped develop power pop.

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    1. Wah Wah was about 12 or 13…I thought about it! Yea I love Devil’s Radio….when that album came out…I wore it out. I bought that one and Keith Richards Talk is Cheap around the same time.

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      2. I liked that one as well! It’s been a while since I’ve heard it but yea…that was really good. Dhani and Lynne did a great job finishing that album up.

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    1. I have a few of his albums like All Things Must Pass, Thirty Three and 1/3, Cloud 9, and Brainwashed…. Cloud 9 and All Things Must Pass iare my two favorites of him…really good albums.

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  10. “With George’s songs, you could expect a good melody, slide guitar, and his own nugget of knowledge that he left behind.” Excellent synopsis, Max!

    So much to say about your post. First off, the top photo is so wonderful. He looks happy and relaxed there. This photo, found by you, inspired a poem:

    a musical crow

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    1. Thank you Lisa! I hoped you would like it. Your Lennon post inspired it…how I don’t know! Oh yes I remember…because you could have picked “Any Road” but I loved your pick.
      He does look happy in that doesn’t he? Cool!

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      1. Max, you were probably inspired because it was my first post ever on John. Just an fyi, the ones you linked to are not necessarily my Geo favorites. I’ve never made a list of my favorites of his because it would be too difficult. Yes on the pic. One of the happiest I’ve seen of his. He often seems to have a forced smile and an awkward one.

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      2. Yea seems so relaxed and happy. Oh that is alright Lisa…it’s not about your favorites…it’s about the love you put in the posts about him. We can tell you are a deep fan…like I am of certain artists. That is why I linked them.
        Although….I would LOVE to see your top ten!

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      4. I’ll take that! But once again thanks for the poem and influencing this post…and the next 3 on upcoming Fridays.

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  11. f… hit the wrong key. continuing…

    musical minded / crow searches for shiny things / to share with delight.

    Thanks for the nods/link ups on my posts on Geo. As I mentioned to you in email I had 78 posts tagged with Geo’s name connected with it.

    Love the Beatle version of All Things Must Pass. Appreciate you sharing the story about why it didn’t make it to the rooftop concert. Understandable. A slow song might have had them all feel even colder up there.

    It’s a good list, Max. Thank you for choosing to highlight my fave today.

    Heading out for a bike ride in a few minutes. Will be taking some Geo songs with me because of your post.

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    1. Cool poem Lisa! THATS a lot of posts! You are welcome and thanks for inspiring me to do this…John is next week!
      Have a good bike ride!

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      1. It’s a poem about you, Max. You search so diligently for bright shiny things to bring back and share with your readers.

        Cool on John next week. I expect to learn a lot.

        I did have a great ride. We went almost 14 miles and in this heat it was brutal, even this late in the day. Felt good to get out there and move. My friend was headed down to “Bike Time” and “Rebel Road” with her friend afterwards. It’s quite a party going on downtown this weekend.

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      2. That fits me! Nothing Ilike better than finding some song or band that people can relate to. And the other way around.
        Did you know every song on the list? Number 9 is the odd one on here I think. George hated people getting in his business.

        In this heat yea…it would be! It was in the 90s today and humid.

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      1. Thank you ❤ WP throws a hissy when you try to force single spacing, in a comment but has no trouble with it when you do it within your post. I forget that sometimes and that is what happens. That poem is about you, you know.

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      2. I didn’t realize it until you left! I sure appreciate it! I had to kick off with George. Like I said…your enthusiasm rubbed off on me. You know I always liked him of course but I started to listen just a little closer. His writing to me…was pure…I can see a little influence with his music now…a little Paul in the melodies and a little John in the honesty of his lyrics….but it was pure George.

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      3. Max, if I hadn’t had the bike ride planned and getting ready for it, I wanted to say that George was so young when he got started with them and got his education under John and Paul and then, as he learned he began practicing on his own music. I don’t know enough about John and Paul to know if George influenced them, but I they were his teachers, so how could they not have influenced him.

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      4. Oh yea…I see it more now than I ever have. He did influence them in trying new things like the Indian musicians and other things that they would have never tried before.

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  13. Can’t argue with that list. Mine would look pretty similar. I would throw “Dark Horse” on there somewhere, even though his voice was kind of ravaged at the time. I just love that song. I agree about “Blow Away”- lovely song that should be played more. I also agree that “My Sweet Lord” is another victim of overplaying, although it is great, of course. When you did the favorite Beatles post, I did put George slightly ahead of the others because even when I was very small, and saw “Help!” on TV, my eyes always went to George first for some reason, but I rank them all pretty equally.

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    1. I do meet a lot of George fans now…much more than I used to. Dark Horse was a thought while making the list…the last two are well known but they are good. The one that I don’t understand that is not a classic is Isn’t It A Pity.

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      2. I just listened to that group version of “All Things Must Pass”. Wow, you’re right, chills- inducing. I had heard the demo on Anthology, but not this. Imagine if they had done a real take. Definitely George’s #1 song.

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      3. I know! I so wish they would have finished it…only them together can sound like that. You can get close but not there.

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  14. George has always been my favorite. At first I was drawn to him because I have a tendency to root for the underdog and George played that role in the trio, whereas Ringo happily occupied his own fun, creative and quirky island in my mind. Plus Here Comes the Sun and While My Guitar Gently Weeps are in my top 10 Beatles songs.

    But as I began to study and collect rock music, my opinion was cemented by George’s prolific solo career. Yes, Paul had a prolific one too, but I was much more impressed by the the honest artistry of George’s. I love the clarity of his guitar and the thoughtfulness of his lyrics.

    Glad to see When We Were Fab on your list. It’s a great song that is often overlooked.

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    1. Yea it seems like a lot of George’s songs are overlooked. Two would be Blow Away and Isn’t It A Pity. I’ve noticed an uptick in fans with him or everyone is saying it now. His slide guitar playing was just incredible to me…he remade himself apart from the Beatles with that skill.

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    3. As long as we’re talking about Harrison’s Beatles songs (thanks for bringing it up), I want to give a shoutout to Savoy Truffle. Cranked up loud (especially through headphones, as I’m doing now), it is an absolute gem!

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  15. I’m obviously no authority on Beatles related music at all, but I’ve always said I rate each member’s solo output higher than as a group.I’ve always loved John’s solo stuff, and some years ago, I’d have said he was my favourite. But I have an almost grudging admiration for Paul, and Wings-era songs.

    And ‘Back Off Boogaloo’ brings back some fond memories and is one of my favourite singles, so Ringo has to be in with a shout too.It was only a few years ago, though, that I realised although I couldn’t name more than a few George tracks, I DO actually know the songs. These are songs that creep into your psyche without asking permission. I do recollect his Bangladesh era output and liking that, even as a thirteen year old.

    So the upshot of all that? I still prefer Jagger & Richards! 😀 😀 :-D(But yeah, George and John could maybe battle it out in the car-park at closing time. I’m on the side of the winner.) 😀

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    1. “I’m obviously no authority on Beatles related music at all,” Well we can’t always be perfect! LOL
      No I get what you are saying. Between Richards and Jagger…I’ll take Richards solo anyday of the week and twice on Sunday.
      Georges songs tend to be spiritual and Johns brutally honest whether you agree or not. Paul is a fantastic song writer…

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      1. Yup. Agree. I probably play on the ‘not a Beatles fan’ thing more than is merited, really. Though genuinely, I wouldn’t know what tracks one from what album, in the main.

        I’d never thought of the difference between John and George that way before, but now you say it, I realise where you’re coming from.

        (I noticed you didn’t mention Ringo in your reply … any reason? 😉😂😉😂)

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      2. I’m like that in some ways. I’m a Stones fan but not the level of The Who or Beatles. I always thought of Keith and John as kinda the same function in the bands…and Mick and Paul the same function.

        LOL…oh I do like Ringo dude…but not on the level of the other ones musically…but he is friggin Ringo Starr…you have to like him!

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  16. I’m yet to hear a bad song from him. It’s hard to contest your listing although I’d have ‘Give Me Love’ in my top 2.
    You can hear a lot of what went into Wilbury’s music with ‘Any Road’. Take for example, ‘The Devil’s Been Busy’. The 2 songs sound uncannily similar. Cool post Max.

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    1. Yea they do now since I just thought about it. All Things Must Pass…is one of my favorite songs period. Just a great written song.

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  17. I don’t think I appreciated Harrison as much as I have after that tribuit concert with Tom Petty doing I need you, wow….and that version of old brown shoe…..McCartney doing Something on a ukulele……and I don’t know where I saw Prince doing guitar on while my guitar gently weeps….man that kid could play…..yes, sure, my sweet lord was and still is great ( don’t care about the she’s so fine nonsense) give me love live me peace on earth….this is love…and his slide was unique and his own….sure my tastes are usually all over the place, but when I hear things like Harrison’s, these guys were pros and new how to put together a song……

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    1. Yes they do. Warren…have you ever seen and heard during one of those tribute concerts with Paul singing All Things Must Pass? I got emotional with that one. Clapton picked what songs artists were to do…and he picked McCartney for that song…it was magic. It’s on youtube.
      I agree…they could put together songs really well. Yea that Prince piece…man he played the hell out of that guitar.

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  20. ‘All Things Must Pass’ makes me cry every time. I don’t even have to hear it, just see the title, and I’m welling up. It’s so lovely and meaningful. It would be my #1 George song as well. This is a wonderful list.

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